Saturday Is 2016/17’s Non League Day

This Saturday – today – has been chosen as 2016/17’s Non League Day where fans of Premier League clubs, and others in the professional tiers of football, are encouraged to support and take in matches at non league level.

With the international break and Sam Allardyce’s first match in charge of England this weekend against Slovakia, seeing a suspension of games in the Premier League and the Championship, semi professional and amateur clubs around the country will be hoping to see a few new faces through their turnstiles this weekend as fans look for a football fix and are encouraged to get one at the more grass roots level.

For the Premier League, their own grass roots efforts through the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund (PLFAFF) and the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF) are ongoing and this is the day they promote those efforts and point out that in the year to July 2016 more than 300 grants were handed out by the two funds to non league clubs to help them make infrastructure improvements to their grounds – and of course with non league getting plenty of air time last season owing to Jamie Vardy’s performances for Leicester City and their lifting of the Premier League title, that will probably only continue this year as Burnley’s Championship Player of the Year, Andre Gray, takes headlines for his own swift rise from non League into the top flight.

‘Non-League Day has become a really important part of the football calendar. It celebrates what is great about English football. I would encourage everyone who supports a team in the top two divisions to take advantage of the international fixture break and put rivalries to one side for a day by lending their support to a local team a bit further down football`s pecking order, whether that be a non-League side or indeed a club from Leagues One and Two. I applaud all those involved in promoting Non-League Day. The fact that its momentum grows every year is down to their hard work alongside those who work tirelessly across more than 600 leagues around the country week in, week out.’